INTRODUCTION

Ringwood Borough has entered the 21^st Century to find a paradigm shift in its long range planning policies and strategies. Enactment of the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act and adoption of implementing regulations has transformed the playing field for development throughout the Highlands, but nowhere more so than in Ringwood, one of five New Jersey municipalities situated entirely within the Highlands Preservation Area. This designation is not surprising, given the vast repository of protected watershed lands interspersed among lakefront communities and rural neighborhoods in the Borough. Ringwood, in many respects, is the essence of the Highlands, providing drinking water for roughly ¼ of New Jersey’s residents.

Before the Highlands Act, residential subdivisions were approved that sacrificed hilltops and ridgelines. In addition, occasional approvals for light industrial development resulted in clearcutting forests. However, residential and non-residential development under new Highlands standards that are mandatory for preservation areas, has been dramatically curtailed. As a result, development-induced change will be minimal in area and impact.

As the Borough charts a course for the 21^st Century, protecting fragile resources, reclaiming degraded environments and reshaping suburban sprawl will take center stage. As Ringwood promotes sustainable practices of a wide variety, the Borough must reconcile changes to the scenic natural environment with community planning objectives.

MUNICIPAL PLANNING AUTHORIZATION AND SUSTAINABILITY

Municipal Land Use Law (NJSA 40:55D-1 et seq.) authorizes municipalities to plan and zone to promote the public health, safety, morals and general welfare. Enabling statute identifies fifteen purposes for which the state confers on municipalities these planning and zoning powers.

Preventing sprawl and protecting resources is an overriding theme throughout the purposes of the MLUL. Likewise, promoting good civic design and arrangements and providing sufficient space in appropriate locations for a variety of land uses are objectives reflecting the need to balance the sometimes competing goals of environment vs. development.

Goals of the Enabling Legislation

The Municipal Land Use Law at N.J.S.A. 40:55D-2 sets forth the purposes of zoning in New Jersey. Local power to regulate land use comes from the Municipal Land Use Law (NJSA 40:55D-1 et. seq.). These powers are provided to municipalities to foster the following purposes:

a. To encourage municipal action to guide the appropriate use of development of all lands in this State, in a manner which will promote the public health, safety, morals and general welfare;

b. To secure safety from fire, flood, panic and other natural and manmade disasters;

c. To provide adequate light, air and open space;

d. To ensure that the development of individual municipalities does not conflict with the development and general welfare of neighboring municipalities, the county and the State as a whole;

e. To promote the establishment of appropriate population densities and concentrations that will contribute to the well-being of persons, neighborhoods, communities and regions and preservation of the environment;

f. To encourage the appropriate and efficient expenditure of public funds by the coordination of public development with land use policies;

g. To provide sufficient space in appropriate locations for a variety of agricultural, residential, recreational, commercial and industrial uses and open space, both public and private, according to their respective environmental requirements in order to meet the needs of all New Jersey citizens;

h. To encourage the location and design of transportation routes which will promote the free flow of traffic while discouraging location of such facilities and routes which result in congestion or blight;

i. To promote a desirable visual environment through creative development techniques and good civic design and arrangements;

j. To promote the conservation of historic sites and districts, open space, energy resources and valuable natural resources in the State and to prevent urban sprawl and degradation of the environment through improper use of land;

k. To encourage planned unit developments which incorporate the best features of design and relate the type, design and layout of residential, commercial, industrial and recreational development of the particular site;

l. To encourage senior citizen community housing construction;

m. To encourage coordination of the various public and private procedures and activities shaping land development with a view of lessening the cost of such development and to the more efficient use of land; and

n. To promote the utilization of renewable energy sources.

o. To promote the maximum practicable recovery and recycling of recyclable materials from municipal solid waste through the use of planning practices designed to incorporate the State Recycling Plan goals and to compliment municipal recycling program.

The MLUL confers upon municipalities the right to zone when at least the basic elements of the master plan have been duly adopted, including a housing element, statement of goals, policies and objectives and a land use plan. The statute also authorizes (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-28.b) discretionary master plan elements, including the conservation plan to be adopted by Ringwood during 2007.

The Municipal Land Use Plan describes the Land Use Plan Element of the Master Plan at N.J.S.A. 40:55D-28.b.(2):

A land use plan element (a) taking into account and stating its relationship to the statement provided for in paragraph (1)” (statement of goals and objectives) “hereof, and other master plan elements provided for in paragraphs (3) through (14) hereof and natural conditions, including, but not necessarily limited to, topography, soil conditions, water supply, drainage, flood plain areas, marshes, and woodlands; (b) showing the existing and proposed location, extent and intensity of development of land to be used in the future for varying types of residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational, educational and other public and private purposes or combination of purposes; and stating the relationship thereof to the existing and any proposed zone plan and zoning ordinance; and (c) showing the existing and proposed location of any airports and the boundaries of any airport safety zones delineated pursuant to the “Air Safety and Zoning Act of 1983,” P.L.1983, c.260 (C.6:1-80 et seq.); and (d) including a statement of the standards of population density and development intensity recommended for the municipality;

The Highlands regulations have brought a heightened focus to the need to protect critical resources within New Jersey’s Highlands. Nonetheless, the Highlands Regional Master Plan (RMP) does not substitute for the local master plan, although local planning will be shaped in part by the RMP consistency requirements. Specifically, significant potential exists in the context of both the MLUL and the Highlands Act to advance a planning and implementation agenda for the Borough that improves pedestrian and vehicular safety and linkages, protects neighborhood character and defines the community’s sense of place and vision for the 21^st century.

VISION STATEMENT

The Borough of Ringwood, recognizing the natural constraints that limit the location, type and intensity of development (including but not limited to steep slopes, wetlands, streams, aquifer recharge areas, and the dependence on ground water) and mindful of its semi-rural character and historic settlements, envisions a safe, healthy and pleasing environment for all its residents.

Accordingly, the Borough of Ringwood commits to:

· Fulfilling its continuing responsibility as steward of the pristine waters, drinking supply for millions of New Jersey residents, and other environmentally sensitive habitat found within its borders;

· Protecting, preserving and restoring its natural resource assets and seeing to it that responsible state agencies fulfill their mandate to the parks and resources under their jurisdiction;

· Ensuring complete remediation and restoration of environmentally compromised sites;

· Becoming a role model and providing leadership to achieve sustainable economic development, including green technologies;

· Revitalizing our commercial areas;

· Continuing to seek environmentally suitable uses for the industrially zoned area;

· Assuring that a variety of housing opportunities exist in the Borough for new families and senior citizens;

· Maintaining the prevailing character and unique sense of place of its neighborhood communities;

· Fostering the arts and culture;

· Creating improved vehicular traffic flow, pedestrian walkways and bicycle paths;

· Providing diverse recreational opportunities; and

· Encouraging an informed citizenry.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Stewardship of land and water resources is critical to a sustainable environment and economy. The following goals elaborate Ringwood’s stewardship objectives.

Land Use and Management

· To exercise stewardship over the lands and waters of the Borough of Ringwood to ensure that these resources are available for the sustenance and enjoyment of present and future generations.

· To protect and maintain the prevailing character and unique sense of place of the Borough, including diverse neighborhoods, historic settlements and scenic landscapes, which result from the natural topography, woodlands and water bodies and courses.

· To promote the goals and objectives of Ringwood through the incorporation of local policies and strategies that respond to the basic premises, intent and purposes of the State Development and Redevelopment Plan and the Highlands Regional Master Plan.

· To provide a future land use pattern that preserves large contiguous areas of open lands.

· To continue and expand upon land use policies that promote controlled development at suitable locations and appropriate intensities by discouraging the extension of growth-inducing infrastructure into areas of fragile environmental resources.

· To establish development densities and intensities at levels, which do not exceed the current planning capacity of the natural environment and available infrastructure, based on the sensitivities and limitations of these systems.

· To encourage the best possible design for new developments, and to protect established neighborhoods and utilities.

Community Design

· To develop standards to ensure good visual quality and design for all land use categories.

· To ensure that new development is visually and functionally compatible with the physical character of the Borough.

· To provide for a proactive approach to physical design and community planning so that adjacent land uses function compatibly and harmoniously in terms of scale and location.

· To improve the visual and physical appearance of developed areas through the implementation of design standards for features such as signs and buffering and protect neighborhoods from encroachment by incompatible uses.

· To retain to the greatest extent practicable attractive vistas from public rights-of-way, including views of hills, valleys, ridgelines, woodlands, lakes, stream corridors, flood plains and other natural areas.

· To encourage improvement of the appearance of existing commercial development to provide for eco-tourism related shopping and dining services.

· Reshape suburban development to create a pedestrian-friendly town commons with aesthetically pleasing design, and appropriately scaled development with significant pedestrian linkages.

Natural Resources

· To protect environmental resources which contribute to the environmental character of the Borough, including but not limited to steep slopes, ridgelines, lakes, streams, wetlands, potable water supplies, watersheds, aquifers, viewsheds, forests and other vegetation, habitats of threatened and endangered species and unique natural systems.

· To limit the intensity of development, in areas relying on groundwater supplies and on-site sewage disposal, based on conservative estimates of available water resources and the ability of the soil and ground water to sustain on- lot disposal systems without degrading or impairing the water quality.

· To promote the protection of biological diversity through the maintenance of large contiguous tracts and corridors of recreation, forest, flood plain and other open space lands.

· To continue the acquisition of important open space through the use of the Borough’s open space tax and other sources of funding.

· To promote land use and management policies that provide for clean air and protection from noise and light impacts.

· To promote the development and adoption of resource management standards to manage land use activities in a manner that protects and maintains natural resources for the future use and enjoyment of generations to come.

· To identify and manage stream corridor, lake and wetland buffer areas by maintaining undisturbed vegetation in order to protect and improve water quality, wildlife corridors and opportunities for passive and active recreation.

· To limit the amount of disturbance in development involving steep slopes.

· To require the protection of ridgelines.

· To protect groundwater supply and quality through the adoption of aquifer management programs, including relevant standards for wellhead protection programs, and standards to protect groundwater recharge areas, such as impervious coverage limitations.

· To recognize and protect the watershed lands and the drainage basin of the reservoir lands in the Borough as an important regional source of potable water.

Housing

· To promote and support the development, redevelopment and rehabilitation of affordable housing intended to address the Borough’s fair share of the region’s lower income housing.

· To provide a range of housing opportunities within the Borough.